Repeat
by SqutternutBosh
Summary: Either I've got horrible deja-vu, or we've been here before.' Something falling through the Rift has interesting consequences for Gwen and Ianto. Post Exit Wounds and Journeys End.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: First chapter of multi-chaptered fic set after Exit Wounds and Journeys End, with Jack, Ianto and Gwen acting as Torchwood Three. The plot should become clearer in the third chapter. For now, concrit is always welcome.

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

…*…

DAY ONE

07:30

_Be be be beep. Be be be beep. Be be be beep._

Ugh. Horrible noise. Alarm. Make it stop.

_Be be be beep. Be be be beep. Be be be beep._

Gwen rolled over, eyes still tight shut.

'Rhys…' she croaked out her first word of the day.

'Ungh…'

_Be be be beep. Be be be beep. Be be be beep._

'Rhys,' she insisted, brushing her icy foot along her husband's bare leg. He started, quickly twitching his warm leg away from her, before fumbling a tired arm out of the duvet to hit the snooze button.

'Your feet are freezing, Gwen,' he told her needlessly, mumbling into his crumpled pillow.

Holding back a yawn, Gwen pushed herself up with her palms to rest against the headboard. She blinked blearily to clear her eyes and head of sleep, looking down at Rhys who was still stubbornly refusing to move.

'I've gotta go to work,' she announced to the room at large, starting to extract herself from the tangle of blankets.

'You're overworked,' Rhys mumbled, his eyes closed. Gwen paused, half out of the bed. She planted her cold feet on the carpet, feeling them sink into the surface.

'No one's overworking me, Rhys,' she said slowly. 'Things've just been busy. Out of my control; out of Jack's.'

Rhys cracked one brown eye open to look at her, met with the sight of her back turned to him.

'I-I know,' he said hesitantly. 'It's your job, it's important. Bloody important. I just- I miss you, Gwen.'

Gwen felt a pleasant twinge in her chest. She smiled softly and looked over her shoulder, meeting his steady gaze. She missed spending time with him too.

'I promise to try my best to be home early tonight. Hey- I'll even cook.'

Rhys grinned into the pillow, both his eyes closed again. 'Can you promise to keep that promise?'

Gwen's smile froze.

'I can try. Rift-willing,' she tried to joke.

Silence.

'I understand, Gwen. I do,' Rhys said after a few moments, his voice slightly strained.

Gwen sighed softly as she stood up. 'And I love you, Rhys Williams. I do,' she answered, walking around the end of the bed, coming to a standstill above her husband. She rested her hand in his bed-head and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips, a curtain of her dark hair sweeping across his face. His nose crinkled slightly at the tickling sensation.

'I'd better get ready for work,' she whispered as she stood up. Then, louder, 'And you'd better be ready to witness the cooking mastery of Gwen Cooper when I get back.'

Rhys simply snorted in response, opening his eyes again to watch her go.

…*…

Ianto was ready with her morning coffee in hand when Gwen walked through the cog door, alarms and lights whirring, about an hour later. She took the mug from him gratefully- she was never fully awake until she had had her morning dose of Ianto's coffee.

'Ianto,' she groaned gratefully as she savoured the taste. 'What would I do without you?'

'Suffer some serious caffeine withdrawal symptoms I should imagine,' he answered dryly, following just behind as she made her way to her desk.

'Jack around?' she asked, setting the mug down on a pile of incomplete paperwork as she shrugged her jacket off.

'On the phone to UNIT again.'

'Oh?'

'Looks like Martha could be coming down to join us again.'

'Good,' Gwen beamed. She, Jack and Ianto had tentatively discussed hiring a new medic and technician; they were lost without Owen's medical skills and even Ianto's best understanding of Tosh's systems were nothing compared to having Tosh on side with them. 'We could definitely do with the extra help.'

Ianto nodded mutely and went to walk away. Gwen reached out and rested a hand on his neatly-tailored forearm.

'Any Rift activity last night?'

'Nothing from the Rift,' Ianto said. 'Three weevils spotted about two in the morning, Jack and I brought them in. They've got a nice cell next to Janet- Jack rather creatively named them Tom, Dick and Harry.'

Gwen laughed. 'It's not really fair that you and Jack went out to catch them while I stayed at home asleep,' she said after a moment.

'It's fine, Gwen. We were both here when the weevil alarm went off anyway.'

Gwen raised an eyebrow. Ianto rolled his eyes in return, starting to walk away.

'And that's all I'm saying, Gwen.'

.

It was half an hour later when Jack was finally finished talking to the UNIT officer on the phone- Gwen had been able to hear him talking irritably from her desk, even though she hadn't clearly been able to make out any words.

Jack stepped out of his office, hands in his pressed trouser pockets as he strolled over to see what his team was doing.

'Morning, Gwen,' he greeted. 'Nice to see you again, Ianto,' he nodded in the Welshman's direction with a quick wink. This was met with an exasperated eye roll and an offer of coffee.

'Love some,' Jack answered, looking over Gwen's head at the bank of screens she was scrolling through. 'What you up to, Gwen?'

'Just finalising my report on that weevil incident in Barry last week,' she answered, tilting her head up to make eye contact. 'It worries me that they're spreading out of Cardiff, Jack.'

'Hmm,' Jack mused in agreement. 'The Rift has been spreading. I know the weevils come from the sewers around here, but it's the Rift that brought them here in the first place. I don't know whether that nest we found in Barry was the result of the Rift, or overpopulation here causing them to spread out. Keep an eye on it.'

'Sure, Jack.'

Gwen saved the file, before clicking the little cross in the top right corner to close the window down. Myfanwy screeched overhead, as if to remind them of her presence. She made a slightly ungainly loop of the water tower before landing up on her perch, her own piece of the hub. She clacked her beak and nuzzled her wing.

Jack was rifling through some of the papers on Ianto's desk when he appeared with Jack's coffee. Jack took it with a smile of thanks as Ianto sat down at his desk, Jack leaning against it, cupping the coffee mug in both hands, feeling the warmth spread through the enamel to the palms of his hands. Gwen turned her chair in the direction of both of them.

'So, Jack, is Martha going to be gracing us with her presence?' she asked.

'I'm trying to convince UNIT to let her go, they're pretty fond of her…' Jack said, rubbing one hand thoughtfully against his jaw. 'And they lost a lot of men when the Daleks… Martha would love to come join us, you know she loved her time here, even after Owen… But she loves UNIT as well…'

'It's a big decision,' Gwen sympathised. 'And she has her fiancé and family to think about.'

'I'm sure we could get her fiancé a job at the University Hospital, no problem.'

Gwen nodded in agreement. Torchwood would have no problem with that, a lot of Cardiff businesses were still employing in the aftermath of Gray and then the Daleks; the hospital was no exception.

'Quiet day in then you reckon?' she asked, swinging slightly from side to side in the rotating chair.

'Now that you've dared to think it, no,' Ianto pointed out. Jack smirked into his coffee.

'Good, I've got stacks of paperwork that I don't particularly want to do- and I need an excuse not to otherwise you'll keep nagging me for it.'

'Someone's got to attempt to keep records in this place and that, unfortunately, falls under my job description.'

'You could've been the guard dog,' Jack muttered.

Ianto was about to protest when the shrill sound of the Rift alarm broke through the relative peace of the hub. Ianto was on it instantly.

'Rift spike… No life signs but it seems like at least two things came through…'

'Where?' Gwen was already up, thrusting her arms through the sleeves of her jacket.

'Old waterworks near Penarth.'

Jack drained the rest of his mug. He headed over to the cog door, grabbing his RAF greatcoat off the coat stand as he went.

'I'm driving,' he called back over his shoulder.

…*…

'Well doesn't this place look simply charming?' Gwen murmured sarcastically, looking through the tinted glass at the shoddy, old, corrugated metal warehouses of the disused waterworks.

'I have a theory,' Ianto started. 'That the Rift is programmed to spit the majority of its crap out in abandoned warehouses and just in the vicinity creepy buildings in general.'

'You know, Ianto, I think I'll have to agree with you on that one,' she said, checking her gun over and loading it. Ianto had said no life signs, but much better safe than sorry.

'Hey, at least it's daytime,' Jack pointed out optimistically, smoothly pulling the SUV up beside the padlocked front entrance. Ianto was checking over the Rift information on his PDA as they all undid their seat belts and clambered out.

'Looks like something came out just inside here, ground floor… Something else on one of the upper balcony levels on the far side,' he said, motioning in the general directions. He looked up at them and stored the PDA in his pocket.

Gwen put her gun in the back waistband of her jeans and pulled her jacket tighter against the bitter wind that didn't seem to bother Jack- only added to his enigmatic image as his coat flapped as he stood tall and gave orders, light spatters of icy rain blowing into their faces as she huddled against the cold.

'I'll go check out the reading on the far side,' he said, his authoritative tone bleeding into his voice. 'You two stick together, find that other reading round here.' He surveyed them closely as they all headed to the rusted doors. One quick shove from Ianto and they had caved in, granting he and Gwen access. 'And be careful.'

Gwen knew he was thinking of one of the last times he had blundered in after Rift readings with no life signs… And the ensuing explosion that had been the beginning of chaos for Cardiff and the breaking of Torchwood Three.

'Always, Jack,' Gwen met his steely gaze with her serious brown eyes, trying to reassure him that they would be fine. Jack's eyes flickered over to meet Ianto's, who inclined his head slightly in a brief nod.

'Come on then, Gwen,' Ianto said brightly, tearing his eyes away from Jack's. He ducked under a snapped cable end and through the shattered metal doorway. 'Fun to be had.'

Gwen threw one last look at Jack as he set off, before following after Ianto.

It was like she had been swallowed by an enormous, metallic whale. The sense of just plain damp and dank almost overwhelmed Gwen- the musty scent, the cool touch of it on her skin, the stale taste on her tongue. Colonies of damp and moss crawled up the metal walls, winding continuously along the zig-zags of the corrugated walls. Grey chunks of static light were spilling through the high-set windows, just enough for them to see by. The ground underfoot creaked and sagged. Gwen looked down and saw that it was made of wood that was peeling and bending in only the way that completely drenched wood could. It certainly didn't feel safe to walk on, especially as she noticed vast quantities of still water collected underneath the panels, creating an eerie underground lake of-sorts.

Yet more water dripped from overhead, forming strange calcium swirls of limescale on the ceiling, almost similar to an alien language Tosh had once translated for them. Light rain from outside blew in through the windows and the slatted holes in the roof. The warehouse was huge, like a football pitch, empty but for four large troughs organised two by two.

'Yep, the Rift does seem to have a bit of a thing for these old warehouses,' Gwen agreed again as she set off after Ianto, feeling the wooden floorboards squelch underfoot as years-old water trickled out of them, finally escaping.

Just towards the back of the warehouse, Gwen could make out a faint glowing. She picked up her pace, overtaking Ianto, pulling her own equipment out ready.

It was a sliver of perfectly smooth, bronze-coloured metal, crescent-shaped like a scythe, but the ends appeared to be jagged rather than pointed, almost as if something had been snapped off either end. It was about the size of a car tyre and pulsing in a soothing manner, drawing Gwen towards it, but she kept her head and remembered her training.

She held the scanner out in front of her, standing just close enough to be able to take readings, still feeling that incessant tug that wanted her closer to the object.

'No signs of radiation,' she told Ianto. 'No signs of any foreign energies or contaminants either, just traces of residual Rift energy.' She took a step forward. 'Should be alright.'

'I hate to have to always be the voice of protocol but you know you shouldn't touch that until we've scanned it properly back at the hub,' Ianto warned as Gwen continued her approach. It glowed and pulsed brighter. 'Gwen?'

Now that she was closer, Gwen could see that the crescent had once been a part of something- she could see where the metal had torn and bent out of shape as it had been forced apart. It looked like it had once been a piece of a machine, maybe something used to transport people. No… There was something… cog-like about it, Gwen decided, like a thin piece stolen from within the intricate internal workings of a clock.

'Gwen,' Ianto cautioned, his voice level.

Gwen could hear Ianto's warning, was aware of the sense he made, but was inexplicably drawn towards the item. She felt a strange warm shiver of excitement run down her arm, finishing with a tingling sensation in her index finger. She reached out slowly and the object seemed to sense her, pulsing more frequently; impatiently, as if it wanted her to hurry.

She heard Ianto move behind her, aware that if she got any closer he would physically stop her.

'Gwen,' he repeated anxiously. She heard him take another step closer, lifting his arm slowly towards hers.

Gwen furrowed her eyebrows in annoyance. Couldn't Ianto see that the object didn't present any danger to them? Somewhere in the back of her mind, her common sense was screaming at her not to go any closer. Ianto didn't want her to. Jack would certainly tell her to keep well away, especially if she had explained that it was calling out to her, pulling her towards it like she was on the end of a rope that only the object had control over. But she wanted to get closer. She had to.

Before Ianto had the chance to stop her, she reached out and touched it.

She was dimly aware of a ricocheting bang; cool air rushing past her face and then darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed chapter one and put this story on alert- it means a lot!

…*…

DAY ONE

01:58

'Right, I'll take those two down behind the cinema, you alright to grab the third round the back there?' Jack panted as he and Ianto ran through the night; breath coming out in warm, wispy clouds that fast disappeared at the extinguishing touch of the cold air.

'Think I've had enough experience with weevils to deal with one alone now, Jack,' Ianto pointed out as he ran, keeping level with Jack, who let out a sharp bark of laughter.

Ianto could feel the blood pumping round his body, spreading warmth, energy and oxygen; feeding the flow of adrenalin. He briefly spotted his reflection in the dark window of a café- his face was flushed and small tufts of his hair were standing up in odd directions. He didn't dwell as he kept his legs moving in repetitive, rhythmic motion, hearing the flat slapping sounds of his footfalls on the wet paving slabs.

Cardiff was different by night; greyer and grittier, lit by the strange ochre glow of towering street lamps. There was no one out at this time on a Wednesday morning, most having crawled to bed at least an hour ago.

The feral snarl of a weevil broke through the sounds and motions of their running as they came to a standstill, Jack hovering just ahead.

'They might be heading back to the sewers,' Ianto suggested, reaching into his jacket pocket for his canister of weevil spray.

'Least we can do is encourage them,' Jack said. 'There's your one then.'

He pointed in the direction of which the snarl had just come from with the shadow of a grin.

'Brilliant.'

Pathetic sarcasm was something that Ianto clung to at this time of the morning.

'Well, uh, I'll be off then,' he added, heading down into the alley where the weevil was watching them cautiously from behind a stack of rotten bin bags.

'Let me know when you're done,' Jack instructed as he started to run towards the student's union where two more weevil sightings had been reported. 'And be careful!'

As if I'd be anything else, Ianto thought wryly, especially when faced with a shark-toothed sewer alien who would like to feast on my jugular.

Setting his features into a mask of grim determination, Ianto took a few measured steps closer to the weevil. The weevil saw his approach and raised its head, flaring its nostrils at his scent- human, sweat and adrenalin. Ianto fumbled in his inside pocket again, feeling the cool reassurance of his semi-automatic against his sticky palms. He curled his fingers around the grip and slowly withdrew it, careful not to make any sudden movements.

As he approached the weevil, it stepped away from the cover of the stinking, overflowing bin bags. It eyed him warily, swaying on its feet, as if its long, curved arms slightly overbalanced it. It let out a low, warning growl, drawing its thick lips back over yellowed teeth. Another step closer. Another growl, more insistent, and a heavy snort of breath that released a steaming cloud into the chill night air.

Ianto only needed to get a little bit closer…

'Nice night,' he commented conversationally to the weevil, keeping his eyes fixed on it. 'Maybe not the best part of town- some good pubs and clubs if you went around the corner though.'

The weevil snorted and started to lower itself into a crouch; ready to pounce or fight back and a moments notice. Ianto felt his own body instinctively mirror the pose, finding his centre of gravity, keeping less of his body exposed to the vicious claws of the creature.

Another step closer.

Ianto's weevil hunting style wasn't like Jack's. Jack seemed to enjoy getting hands-on with the creatures, seemingly flaunting his inability to stay dead as he wrestled with them, making throw-away comments. No, Ianto would rather stay alive and if a weevil had to die for that reason… He'd feel guilty about it, but the mindset of rather him than me was pretty powerful.

The weevil sniffed, seemed to narrow its eyes…

And suddenly, it leapt forward. Ianto threw himself to the side to avoid the first contact. He fell into a quick, awkward roll, jumping to his feet as soon as he could. The weevil was behind him now, growling and grinding its teeth.

'I was only trying to be friendly,' Ianto murmured, tightening his grip on his gun and weevil spray. One shot to confuse and mildly injure it; then he could get in with the weevil spray. Avoid killing it unless it is about to kill you.

The weevil was charging towards him in an uneven lumbering motion. Ianto raised his arm and gently squeezed the trigger, letting off a sharp, but slightly skewed shot. It caught the weevil on the shoulder, only serving to irritate it further.

However it paused long enough for Ianto to dart forward and give it a face full of sedative- Owen had strengthened the solution not long before he had died. The weevil sagged and dropped to the floor, still breathing, but unconscious.

Ianto could hear footsteps charging towards him.

'Ianto!'

Jack's voice.

Ianto turned, coming face to face with another weevil. His mind almost froze for a second as he went for his spray canister, the rank, hot breath of the weevil on his face. A gunshot, and another, both echoing like the crack of a steel whip. The weevil fell forward, crashing heavily into Ianto as it collapsed, unconscious, to the ground, taking Ianto down with it.

Ianto struggled to throw the weight of the weevil off, not enjoying the sensation of its moist, hot flesh against his face, or the thick stream of blood that was trickling from a bullet wound above its eye onto one of his favourite shirts. He should stop picking favourite outfits really, he mused hazily as he felt Jack lifting the weevil off him, they all just got ruined in the end.

Shoving the near-dead weevil aside with little respect, Jack offered his clammy hand down to Ianto, who took it gratefully and returned, a little unsteadily, to his feet. Jack rested his hands on Ianto's shoulders, scanning his eyes with concern.

'You alright?'

'Yeah, I'm fine' Ianto breathed. He took in a deep gulp of air to calm himself. 'I just… Wasn't expecting that.'

Jack snorted, the corners of his lips curling into a grin.

'Thought you said you could handle a weevil by now?'

'I said one, Jack, not two- especially one that's _behind_ me.'

Jack's hands were still resting on his shoulders. He briefly tightened his grip for a second, clapping his hands on the charcoal fabric of Ianto's freshly-blood-stained blazer before bringing them back to hang at his sides. Jack was still peering at Ianto, checking him over in the dark.

'I'm fine, Jack,' Ianto repeated.

Jack had become very protective of he and Gwen over the past few months, and not without good reason. Jack nodded absentmindedly.

'I've got the other weevil unconscious round the corner. You go get the SUV, I'll drag it round here and we can do a quick clean-up.'

Ianto nodded with a quick 'Sir,' and left Jack in the alley with two unconscious weevils as he went to collect the SUV.

…*…

DAY ONE

10:47

Ianto was up and scrambling to his feet almost as fast as he had been blown off them by the blast caused by Gwen's touching the alien object.

'GWEN!' he shouted, ears ringing in the aftermath of the blast.

Chunks of the wooden flooring had been thrown tumultuously into the air, crashing back down around Ianto. The ceiling was high enough to be unaffected.

'GWEN!' Ianto yelled again, running over to where Gwen had been stood, ignoring the painful twinge in his back from where he had fallen after being thrown through the air.

There was a gaping hole where he had been stood moments before, revealing the rippling waters that had sat undisturbed for years. Ianto looked around the area desperately, hoping to catch sight of his friend, denying himself that it was likely she had been blasted into the waters by the destruction of the floor that had been beneath her feet.

'Shit,' he muttered, pulling off his suit jacket. He had no idea how deep the water was, only that it was likely to be freezing and Gwen was likely to be unconscious. Ianto knew his own head was certainly banging from the force of the explosion.

He pressed a shaking finger to his ear.

'Jack,' he said hoarsely. 'Jack, are you there?'

'Ianto?'

Ianto was kicking off his shoes, still surveying the area for any sign of Gwen.

Nothing.

'Ianto? Are you and Gwen alright?'

Ianto unceremoniously removed his mobile and PDA from his pockets, dropping them to the floor with a resounding clatter.

'No, you need to get back here now Jack.'

There wasn't even a pause before Jack's reply came through- 'I'm on my way.'- and Ianto only just caught it before ripping his Bluetooth device out of his ear.

Ianto nervously took a deep breath and braced himself for what he was about to do. He'd probably wasted too much time already.

Another deep breath as he bent his legs slightly and plunged into the icy waters.

It was unbelievably cold. Ianto felt the warmth being sucked out of him, stolen by the murky depths. He felt bubbles rising rapidly around him, rushing past his ears in a stream of waterlogged sound, the sensation of it rising up his nose and into his ears. He tried opening his eyes, struggling to make anything out in the blurry gloom as tendrils of the water probed at his exposed eyeballs, making his attempts even more uncomfortable. Pressure was building up in his lungs as he flapped his arms to stay under, twisting round for any sign of Gwen. His chest was burning, deflated lungs crying out for more oxygen.

Ianto kicked his legs, feeling the weight of his sodden trousers pulling down on him. His head broke the surface with a strangled gasp as he took another lungful of air, the sound of this action eerily magnified by the strange surroundings. There was about half a metre between the floor he had jumped from and the surface of the water. He blinked furiously to try and clear his eyes of the dirty water, more of it trickling down his forehead where his black hair was plastered down.

Taking another breath, Ianto kicked out against the water, arcing his arms over his head to take a few unsteady strokes- he had never been the strongest swimmer and it wasn't like he had had a lot of time to practice over recent years.

'Gwen?' he tried again, voice coming out in a dry-throated croak.

Then he saw her, lying face down in the water.

He didn't have time to voice the stream of curses that ran through his panicked mind as he ducked his head back under and swam over faster than he had ever swum before in his life.

By the time Ianto reached her, a long minute had passed since the initial blast. Would she survive that? He grappled her body awkwardly, turning her over so that he could see her face, dark hair fanning out around her on the surface, eyes closer. Her skin seemed almost transparent. He ghosted a numb hand over her lips, searching for anything that would show she was still alive. A few drops of water rivuletted out of the corner of her mouth.

Followed by a faint breath.

It was weak, but definitely there. She was alive and breathing-for now.

'Oh my god- Gwen!' Ianto bit back a sob of relief. He had to get her out.

Furiously treading water to stay afloat, Ianto carefully wrapped an arm around Gwen's waist, throwing one of her own limp arms across his shoulders. He was too cold himself to feel how deadly chilled Gwen's skin was. Something half between a gurgle and a choke rose up Gwen's throat, followed by an expulsion of water. Her eyes flickered beneath their lids.

'Gwen?! Ianto?!' Jack's voice boomed and carried across the warehouse. Ianto's head briefly sunk below the water as he struggled to keep Gwen's unconscious form from going under.

'Jack!' he spluttered as he rose above, gasping for air. He swallowed a mouthful of foul water and was quick to spit it out. 'JACK!'

Gwen's head lolled forward as Ianto rearranged her weight to try and keep both of their heads above water. His hand met with a plank of wood that was bobbing around on the surface. He gripped it desperately, tugging it under with his and Gwen's combined mass. Useless.

Jack's worried face appeared above him.

'It's fucking freezing down here Jack and Gwen is barely breathing. We need to get her out of here, fast!' he explained in one breath, getting another mouthful of stagnant water. It dribbled out over his bottom lip as he spoke.

Without a worded acknowledgement of the situation, Jack dropped to the floor, dangling his arms over the side, his pale blue shirt sleeves pulled up.

'Try and pass her up,' he instructed.

Ianto paddled over with one arm, pulling Gwen along beside him until he was underneath Jack's extended arms. He caught Jack's eyes and he nodded. Ianto closed his eyes and forced himself under with a fresh lungful of air.

Every sound seemed alien beneath the surface as Ianto struggled to get Gwen's legs over his shoulders so that she would be high enough for Jack to grab onto. His muscles felt drained and weak with cold, but adrenalin kept him going. Wishing that the pool was shallow enough to get a decent push off from the bottom, Ianto lashed out with his legs to return to the surface.

Gwen's body flopped dangerously forward, showering droplets everywhere as Ianto felt the air on his face again. Her weight was threatening to push him under, but he fought back against the exhaustion, the desire to flop back underwater.

Then, Jack got a good hold of her, hoisting her up by the armpits with a groan and Ianto felt himself sink under dangerously, eyes flickering closed. Jack's commanding voice broke through his weariness.

'Ianto, give me your hand!'

With one final push, Ianto kept his body above water, stretching his arm up to meet Jack's, who immediately clasped his hand with both of his own. Kicking and scrabbling to ease some of the weight off Jack, Ianto found himself hauled over the side, where he collapsed into a shivering heap, pearly goose bumps erupting across his flesh.

'Gwen, is she-?' he started, teeth chattering uncontrollably, but was interrupted by Gwen's eyes shooting open. He sat up and retched, throwing up a puddle of water. She groaned and fell back, shaking violently. Jack whipped off his coat and bundled her up in it, before tossing Ianto the jacket he had removed before jumping in. Ianto made his wobbly way over to where Jack was bent over Gwen. He fell onto his knees beside them, trousers sticking uncomfortably to his thighs as his entire body was racked with shivers.

'Where- where is it?' Gwen managed to get the words out despite her bluing lips.

'What the hell even happened?' Jack cut in, looking between the two. 'No, tell me in the SUV, we need to get you two somewhere warm and dry, _now_.'

'Where is it?' she insisted.

'Forget about it, it probably got damaged in the blast it caused,' Ianto told her.

'I-I will be maj-orly pissed off if we have no-nothing to show for this little expe-pedition.' Her words were broken by the clattering of her teeth.

Acknowledging Gwen's stubbornness, Ianto looked across the opening to where Gwen had found the object. Something caught his eye on the other side- the object that had fallen through the Rift, whole and intact, sitting patiently, no longer pulsing and glowing.

Jack started to haul Gwen to her feet as Ianto unsteadily stumbled over to the object, aware that he might cause another blast if he touched it. His gut instinct told him he wouldn't and he was in no mood for Torchwood protocol, so he reached out and grabbed it. Nothing. Although, it was surprisingly light.

'Ianto?'

'Got it.'

He stumbled back over and Gwen grinned at him.

'Th-thank you, Ianto.'

Ianto smiled softly back. He was feeling a bit faint.

'Just have to see whether it was worth it or not,' she added as Jack wrapped an arm tightly around her waist to keep her upright. She gripped his bicep tightly in return, face still deathly pale as she shivered.

Ianto shoved his feet back into his shoes and gathered his belongings from the floor. As he walked, Jack placed a hand on between his shoulder blades, his reassuring warmth keeping Ianto steady.

…*…

DAY ONE

17:34

Gwen chucked her keys onto the kitchen unit as she entered her apartment. Rhys wasn't back yet and wouldn't be for another half an hour. And she had promised him dinner.

She felt utterly drained. Almost drowning could do that to a person, she mused as she crumpled gratefully onto the sofa, letting the familiar cushions absorb her. They smelt of Rhys.

It had been a funny day. Jack had kept the heaters in the SUV on full as they drove back to the hub, Gwen and Ianto shaking and dripping in the backseat, huddled together with a moth-eaten blanket from the boot for warmth. They alien object had been placed on the front seat as they drove, Jack muttering to himself as he tried to figure out what it was without any luck. In the aftermath of Gwen touching it, he hadn't been able to retrieve the second object wither and when they returned to the hub, the Rift monitors reported that further Rift energy in the waterworks had taken the object back anyway, so it needn't be a cause of further worry.

Back at the hub, Gwen and Ianto had showered and changed into spare clothes before Ianto treated them to his special hot chocolate for warmth. Jack had given the both something alien to prevent hypothermia or any waterborne diseases. Gwen had decided not to question him on what exactly was in the strange, smooth tablet he'd handed her, or where it had come from. She'd rather be free from illness.

She closed her eyes for a few moments, her aching muscles resting comfortably along the sofa. She didn't realise that she had fallen asleep until the sound of the key in the lock announced Rhys' return.

And she hadn't started dinner.

She hoped that an explanation of her near death experience would suffice as an excuse.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and story alerts! Delving further into the plot now, hopefully it makes as much sense to you as it does to me.

…*…

DAY TWO

01:58

Ianto was confused. More than a little confused and working for Torchwood had taught him how to deal with a number of strange situations, but he didn't remember reading about his current source of confusion in any of the staff handbooks.

Once again, at around half past one in the morning, the weevil alarm had gone off alerting he and Jack to a weevil sighting near the Cardiff International Arena. Lucky there was nothing going on there that night. The confusing thing was finding himself waking up in Jack's bed, when he was sure that he had fallen asleep in his own bed only a few hours beforehand. _No_, he was sure that was where he had been as Jack had insisted that he was perfectly capable of watching the hub alone for one night and Ianto needed to get a decent nights sleep. Or, at least spend some time relaxing in his flat to ensure that he was paying the rent for a reason.

So why had he woken up in Jack's bed at the same time as the morning before with Jack grumbling about weevils having inconvenient timing? Ianto mulled this over as he ran with Jack down the same pavement he had been chasing down almost _exactly_ twenty-four hours previously. He hadn't pointed the coincidence or confusion out to Jack yet and Jack hadn't either, despite the obvious connection.

Or maybe it was just Ianto…

He decided to test the waters.

'What keeps bringing them here?' he asked, keeping the question open-ended. Nothing specific about the location or the fact that they'd been there the night before hunting down three weevils.

Jack shot him a confused look, as if unsure whether he was making a joke.

'The Rift, Ianto. If that was supposed to be funny, you'll have to explain it to me later…'

Surely he'd noticed? Something was wrong, definitely wrong. The instinctual feeling was only strengthened by Jack's next words:

'Right, I'll take those two down behind the cinema, you alright to grab the third round the back there?'

Ianto froze in his tracks. Jack also stopped a few steps later. Those words… Ianto was almost completely sure that Jack had said the same thing, _exactly_ the same thing, the night before. Was Jack trying to pull an elaborate trick on him? If he was, Ianto wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of seeing his plans work.

Jack was watching Ianto intently, mouth set and eyes hard as he tried to understand what could possibly be going through the younger man's mind. He opened his mouth to question Ianto, but was cut off.

'Think I've had enough experience with weevils to deal with one alone now, Jack,' he said, careful to try and use the same words and intonations as he had done last time. Jacks' face softened into a smile as he laughed.

He started walking again, catching up to Jack before they both took off at a steady jog. Ianto struggled to remember what he had said next. He had a strange, niggling feeling in the pit of his stomach, felt like he was seeing with some sort of unexplained double vision as he had seen these events play out before. It felt important to keep to the script… Ianto had since dismissed the idea of Jack pulling a very well planned prank. Thinking back on this initial thought, the notion seemed absurd to Ianto. How the hell and why would Jack do that? It wasn't exactly his style.

There was that snarl again, the one that had provoked Ianto into speaking again.

'They might be heading back to the sewers,' the words even felt familiar on Ianto's lips. Like when you've watched a film so many times you can say what the character on screen is about to say, word for word.

'Least we can do is encourage them,' Jack said. 'There's your one then.'

He pointed in the direction of which the snarl had just come from with the shadow of a grin.

'Excellent.'

It wasn't exactly what he had said before, but close enough. The dry tone was all there and his message had been received by Jack, loud and clear.

Feeling like he had skipped over a line in this play of his life, Ianto set off down into the alley where the weevil was hidden, just like he remembered.

'Let me know when you're done,' Jack instructed as he started to run towards the cinema where the other two weevil sightings had been reported. 'And be careful!'

Ianto resolved himself to talking to Jack after the weevils had been dealt with.

Something was wrong.

Definitely wrong.

…*…

DAY TWO

09:00

Gwen wasn't in the best of moods as she walked through the cog door and into the Hub. She couldn't see any sign of Ianto or his coffee, but could hear Jack in his office. For a moment she thought that Ianto was in there with him, until she realized that Jack was on the phone. From the tone of his voice, Gwen guessed that if she looked in on him she would see the man making wild hand gestures to express himself, even if there was no one there to see them.

Shrugging off her jacket and hanging it over the back of her chair, Gwen sat down and flicked on her monitor to see if there had been any Rift activity over night. As it booted up, she thought over the events of her day so far.

Rhys had brought up work again, just like the morning before, after the alarm had gone off. Gwen knew that her job with Torchwood could be difficult for him to understand at times, but they had talked about it over dinner the night before- the dinner she had prepared having been home on time just as she had promised. Granted, she hadn't even started cooking when Rhys had arrived home, but that had been fine and he'd been very worried and a little over-protective when she vaguely described her day to him, including the explosion and near-drowning.

In the end, he had helped her out with dinner, they'd had a good talk; a little about Torchwood, but mostly about everyday things like Banana trying his luck with bootleg CDs again, or whether they should think about buying a proper house with a garden and all. It had been a nice, normal evening, for which Gwen was grateful. And, thinking about it, Rhys probably was too.

So why had he felt the need to bring up work again this morning? Gwen had almost snapped at him when he claimed he had forgotten that they had spoken about it only the previous morning.

Gwen sighed as she signed into the computer with her two different passwords and personal log-in code. Ianto appeared at her shoulder with an offering of coffee.

'Thanks, Ianto,' she said automatically, glancing up at him. He looked a bit distance- he was staring at her monitor, but didn't seem to be reading anything. 'Are you alright?'

'What? Oh, me? Yes. I think so,' his answer was distracted as he tore his eyes away from the screen to meet hers.

'Are you sure? You seem a little… off. And, hang on- are you wearing the same suit as yesterday? You never do that, Ianto.'

'Am I?' He looked down at himself. 'I am,' he confirmed offering her a fleeting smile. 'Only clothes I could find this morning, I do only keep one spare set here after all.'

'Spent the night with Jack?'

'At least half of it…' he murmured. 'Three weevils again. Same place as yesterday.'

'That's odd.'

'Definitely, I thought so too. But when I told Jack he didn't remember any weevils yesterday. In fact, when we talked, he seemed to have forgotten all about everything that happened yesterday with the Rift alert and that alien thing…'

'Do you think something's wrong with him? Like, he's forgotten a day or something?' Gwen suggested with concern.

'I'm not sure, maybe… He did insist on calling UNIT again even though he definitely did that yesterday, you heard him talking to them too… I thought it was me that there was something wrong with because… But maybe it is Jack.'

Ianto still seemed very uncertain and unsure. He absentmindedly rubbed his eyes, before looking back up at Gwen.

'But you're sure you remember these things happening yesterday?' he asked her. 'Three weevils- Tom, Dick and Harry, Jack talking to UNIT about Martha-,'

'Yes and then we had that Rift alert at the old waterworks,' Gwen cut in, nodding her head, her eyebrows furrowed. 'Me and you went after one of the readings, Jack went after the other. I touched it, it exploded, you rescued me from the water…'

'We came back here, warmed up, took alien medicine and the rest of the day was pretty quiet,' Ianto finished.

'Yes and Jack monitored that alien bird migration thing, but that all went fine.'

'Dwarnbirds, I think he called them,' Ianto added. 'The Rift is part of their migratory path, they use another opening somewhere else, galaxies away…'

Gwen took a contemplative sip of her coffee, the steam rising up her nose. Ianto was still standing worriedly, hands resting on his hips beneath his suit jacket. The one he had taken off the day before to dive into the water and rescue Gwen…

'It must be Jack then,' Ianto said after a minute's silence. Gwen watched him as he spoke the decisive words; his young face still looked uncertain. She took another long sip of the drink in front of her, the conductive material of the mug warming her hands. Myfanwy shrieked overhead over the humming sounds of the Hubs computers.

'That thing we brought in yesterday…' she said slowly. 'Could it have done something to Jack? Wiped his memories of the day for some reason?'

'That's our best bet,' Ianto agreed with a nod. 'Guess we'll have to talk to him about it. See what he thinks.'

'Hopefully it's nothing permanent.'

Ianto let out a short bark of laughter. 'Imagine Torchwood with just the two of us.'

'Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones, defenders of Cardiff, saviours of Earth!' she added with a grin.

'May the force be with us,' Ianto muttered as Jack walked brightly from his office.

'Morning Gwen,' he greeted with one of his trademark beams. 'Good to see you again, Ianto,' he winked. Gwen had a vague memory of him saying exactly the same thing yesterday. His smooth skin wrinkled as his eyebrows indented into a small frown. 'Why're you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?'

From behind Jack, Ianto was shooting looks at Gwen that clearly said 'What the hell do we do?!' Gwen bit down on her bottom lip for a second as Jack looked between the two of them.

'Well? What's up?'

'It's uh…' she started, not completely sure where she was going. 'Jack. What do you remember about yesterday?'

Jack turned to look at Ianto, folding his arms. 'Have you two been talking about me? Usually, I would love that. Me and my ego would like it very much. Now though, I'm getting worried. First you,' he nodded his head in Ianto's direction, 'asking weird questions this morning. I thought maybe you were just tired- or that thing with the weevil freaked you. But now Gwen… What's going on?'

'We don't know, Jack,' Ianto admitted.

'And frankly, it's starting to scare me,' Gwen interjected. Ianto shuffled on his feet, moving his hands from his hips to slide into his blazer pocket. Gwen fixed her eyes on Jack's. 'Can you answer the question, Jack. What do you think we did yesterday?'

Jack's frown deepened and he drew his folded arms tighter to his chest.

'You kept on eye on the Hub, did some paperwork,' he began. 'Me and Ianto set up some cameras to monitor the Dwarnbird migration, which will begin at about three, should be done by about five today. There was a weevil alert just before six, but they'd gone back into the sewers by the time we got there, no casualties. You were annoyed about being late home again for no reason. You went home, Ianto and I stayed here and-,'

'I think she's got all the information she needs now, Jack,' Ianto interrupted, stopping Jack from finishing his sentence. 'That's enough.'

Jack grinned impishly at him. 'Not what you said last night.'

Despite the situation, Gwen groaned light-heartedly at Jack and laughed as Ianto rolled his eyes. A few seconds normality before the situation at hand called attention to itself.

'But Jack,' she said hesitantly. 'That stuff happened _two _days ago, not yesterday. Don't you remember? Yesterday we got that call out to the waterworks near Penarth, two items had fallen through the Rift…'

Jack unfolded his arms and rubbed at the back of his neck.

'No…' He turned to Ianto. 'You remember what she's on about?'

'It happened, Jack,' Ianto confirmed.

Jack clapped his hands together. No point in wasting any time.

'Right, well,' he breathed. 'Ianto, if this really did happen, I'm guessing you stored the item?' At Ianto's nod he continued. 'Good, can you get it? I need to take a closer look, my best guess is that it has something to do with what's wrong here. Whatever _is_ wrong…'

Ianto was about to turn and head toward the archives when the Rift alarm rang out. He altered his course, stepping closer to the computer and tapping a few keys. The sound of the alarm died out, but Ianto was still staring at the screen.

'That can't be right,' he spoke slowly. He pressed a few more keys as the Jack grabbed his coat and started towards where the door. 'Jack, Gwen… This is the same location as yesterday. Where we found the object, that old waterworks near Penarth…'

Gwen shared a worried look with Ianto as she slipped her jacket on.

'Now I _really _have no idea what's going on,' she said, following after Jack.

Jack had stopped by the cog door and turned to face his two remaining team members as they approached.

'We need to see to this alert,' he told them. 'But this discussion isn't over.'

Neither Gwen nor Ianto looked convinced.

'I may not know what's wrong,' he added, stepping through the gate, the other two on his tail. 'But, we'll fix it… Whatever it is, we'll fix it.'


	4. Chapter 4

DAY TWO

10:45

This time, Ianto drove the SUV to the waterworks, claiming that since he remembered the way from the previous day that Jack appeared to have forgotten, it would be quicker and easier for him to do so, rather than shout directions at Jack as he pushed the speed of the SUV to its limit.

The rain had started as they drove, a steady drizzle spiralling down from the washed-out grey skies as the SUV rolled sleekly down the hedge-lined, gravel turn-off that led to the newly familiar waterworks. Ianto pulled up where Jack had done, but he stayed seated, his hands still resting on the steering wheel as he stared out of the window he had just opened. Droplets of rain spilled in, landing on Ianto's hands and arms.

'Either I've got horrible déjà-vu or we've been here before,' Gwen said lightly, following Ianto's gaze.

'Yep.' Ianto drew out the single syllable as he confirmed Gwen's statement.

'Yesterday?' Jack's hand strayed to his side to undo his seatbelt as he looked between the two.

'It was raining then too,' Gwen grumbled, throwing the back passenger door open and climbing out.

Jack clicked his seatbelt undone, peering past Ianto to the warehouses behind. Gwen slammed her door shut and trudged round to the other side of the SUV, closer to the run-down buildings.

'Coming?' he asked, reaching out for his own door handle.

Ianto flicked a button on the steering wheel and his window slid closed, the mechanics whirring gently, before he got out of the car.

Standing, back against the SUV for shelter, Ianto consulted his PDA, fingers curled around the edges, resting lightly on the side of the screen. He frowned and tapped at something on the screen, refreshing the Rift readings page. He looked up briefly at Jack and Gwen, who stood watching him expectantly, before checking the readings again.

When he looked up again, lowering the hand holding the PDA, it was Gwen's gaze he sought.

'Two readings. Same as yesterday,' he told her. '_Exactly_ the same; same co-ordinates, same energy readings, same Rift spikes…'

'Are you sure?' she asked disbelievingly.

Ianto fought the urge to roll his eyes in exasperation.

'Of course I'm sure,' he replied. 'I only checked _three _times.'

'This is definitely weird,' Jack stepped in, squinting slightly against the slanting rain, which had been getting heavier. 'Luckily, it's my kind of weird… I have a feeling I know what's going on here, why you two remember a day that nobody else seems to... And it's not exactly good.'

Gwen opened her mouth to protest, to say that it was only Jack who appeared to have forgotten a day, but Jack cut her off.

'No, Gwen, trust me. It's not gonna be easy to fix, but at least we know- I _think_ we know- what we're fighting now.'

'And what exactly is that Jack?' Gwen asked, a little irritated at his talking in riddles.

'We've gotta sort this out first,' he brushed her question off. 'Trust me, this problem isn't going anywhere and there's nothing we can do about it right now. So, we'll deal with what we came here for. Where's that second reading Ianto? You and Gwen take the closest, I'll go check out the other.'

'Far side, upper balcony,' Ianto told Jack as he slid the PDA into the inside pocket of his blazer.

Jack nodded his response and headed off with a casual 'Be good, kids,' slung back at them over his shoulder.

'Jack!' Gwen called after him, taking a few steps in the direction he had. 'Jack!'

She let out a frustrated groan as he ignored her, still striding away, his coat billowing in the wind.

'That man…' she started. 'Sometimes he just abuses his enigma quotient.'

Ianto simply shrugged, walking by Gwen's side towards the nearest warehouse.

'Thought you'd be used to it by now.'

'Just because I've become used to it doesn't mean I like it,' Gwen said stubbornly, kicking at the rusty metal door. It creaked and buckled in on itself, flakes of rust drifting off and scattering to the ground like splatters of dry blood. Ianto gave the door a quick nudge with his shoulder and it fell back, clattering to the ground with a resonating metallic echo.

He then lifted the over-long chain on which the ineffective padlock had been attached, holding it high enough for Gwen to walk under.

'Ma'am,' he said dryly.

'Thank you, kind sir,' Gwen played along, with a mock curtsey as she ducked under the chain.

The smell of damp immediately assaulted Gwen's senses once again, creeping into her mouth and nose as she breathed. Knowing where she was headed and with a strange, prickling sense of what she would find when she got there, Gwen started across the old waterworks. Ianto was one step behind her, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the semi-light of the warehouse.

'Hang on…' he stopped suddenly. Gwen took a few more steps before pausing mid-stride. A droplet of water fell with an echoing splash somewhere behind them. She glanced back at Ianto, a slightly sickening sensation taking root in her stomach as she thought carefully.

'This can't be happening,' she said, scanning the warehouse. 'I just realized…We broke that door yesterday- who's going to have come and fixed that?'

'That's what I was thinking…' Ianto agreed, taking a few long strides to pass Gwen. 'Also, the absence of the rather large hole created by the explosion from the Rift object is a bit suspicious.'

'Just a bit… What the hell is going on, Ianto?'

'It's almost like yesterday never happened…'

'But I remember it!' Gwen said indignantly, jogging a few paces to come into line with Ianto, who was still marching on towards where the reading was coming from, PDA back in his hand.

'Me too, Gwen, same things as you, only…'

'Jack doesn't,' she finished for her colleague.

'Maybe the rest of the world doesn't either.'

'What? You don't think-,'

'I've no idea, but Jack clearly does.'

'Would it have killed him to tell us _something_?'

'Wouldn't have mattered, he would have just come back to life anyway,' Ianto commented, and then stopped again. He looked up from where he had been concentrating on the flickering screen. Gwen followed his line of sight, to be met with the familiar glowing presence of the alien object that had caused so much trouble the previous day- and was still wreaking havoc if Gwen's new suspicions were to be confirmed.

'That thing again,' she turned to Ianto. 'It has to be what's doing… whatever _this_ mess is!'

Ianto looked down at her thoughtfully. 'It was the only new alien object any of us came into contact with yesterday…'

'Or today, depending on how you look at things,' Gwen added. She released a deep breath with a slight sigh. 'Then why's it only me and you who seem to be affected?'

'Maybe… maybe something to do with being caught up in the blast?' Ianto suggested. 'The object itself was unaffected, but I definitely blacked out for a few seconds.'

Gwen nodded absently and headed towards the object. She remembered the unexplainable urge she had felt to touch the object before and, as it appeared to the same thing, Gwen kept further back. This did little to stop the sudden dawning desire she had to hold it in her hands. Why was it having this affect on her? Could Ianto feel it too?

Gritting her teeth against the sudden urge, Gwen pulled her scanner out of her jacket pocket and positioned it in front of her, arms outstretched to take any energy readings, alien or human.

'Nothing. Again.' She sighed again, this time in irritation. She ran a weary hand over her eyes. 'Ianto? Can you feel it?'

He looked at her, grey-blue eyes narrowed.

'What?' he asked, then continued when she didn't reply. 'Gwen, what is it?'

Gwen ran her tongue across her teeth and exhaled through her nostrils.

'I- It's- Hard to explain and I don't know why…'

'I don't feel any different to how I usually do if that's any help.'

She looked at him, feeling a tinge of cold hopelessness lick through her. She was so confused… and this was so frustrating!

'You don't- don't want to touch that thing,' she gestured with an open palm at the object, which still seemed to be calling out to her.

Ianto frowned. 'No, Gwen. Are you alright?'

'Fine, fine, I'll be fine,' she said flippantly. 'I just… Have this weird _craving_ to be holding the object, to feel it in my hands.' She closed her eyes, trying to block out the sensation. 'You can't feel it at all?'

Ianto rested a hand on her shoulder and she opened her eyes.

'No,' he repeated. 'D'you- do you think it might be safe if I touch it? It was yesterday, after you caused it to explode, obviously. I thought maybe that it had expended all of its energy during the blast, but maybe it was just… you, Gwen. For whatever reason you feel drawn to it… Or it feels drawn to you.'

Jack's voice suddenly sounded in both of their ears.

'Gwen? Ianto?' his voice fizzled out with a crackle.

Ianto and Gwen's hands both flew up to their ears in a practised movement, activating their communication systems.

'Yep.'

'Both here, Jack.'

'Good. Found what we're looking for?' Jack queried.

'Just trying to figure out what to do with it,' Ianto answered.

'I'm on my way,' Jack said. 'The source of the second reading has gone, by the way. I got there too late. Checked some of the readings and residual Rift energy in the area- the Rift took back whatever it was just before I got there.'

'That happened yesterday…' Gwen murmured, mind racing.

'Thought it might've done.'

'What the hell is going on, Jack? Why do me and Ianto remember all of this happening if nobody else seems to?'

'It's difficult.'

'Well it seems like we've got time.'

'Look, Gwen, just deal with the object for now. I'll be there in a couple of seconds anyway. And I promise I'll try and explain my understanding of the situation when we get back to the Hub. Understood?'

Gwen relented, knowing that she would hold Jack to his promise. 'Yes, Jack.'

'Good. See you in a second then.'

She deactivated her comms and looked to Ianto, still feeling a tug in the bottom of her stomach that wanted her to be closer to the Rift object.

'You want to risk picking it up then?' she questioned the younger man.

'Might be alright,' he said hesitantly. He pulled a pair of black gloves out of his inside pocket and began putting them on. 'Can't be any worse than what happened last time and we survived that.'

Clattering footsteps came from behind; Jack had arrived.

'You alright there?' he called. Ianto walked towards the glowing object as Gwen stepped back-further from it and closer to Jack. As Gwen distanced herself from it and Ianto drew closer, the glowing and pulsing seemed to fluctuate and fade. Gwen remembered how the glowing had seemed to increase with excitement as she had approached it previously. Perhaps Ianto was right and it was just her. But why?

Jack was stood by Gwen's shoulder by the time Ianto was holding the item, his eyes closed in case it exploded again. He opened them and released the breath he had subconsciously held as nothing happened.

'Sure that's safe to touch?' Jack asked.

'Seems to be for me. Maybe not for Gwen.'

Jack threw Gwen a puzzled look.

'I touched it yesterday and it sort of… It didn't explode because it was still there afterwards but there was a blast of energy and…' Gwen started to explain, filling in Jack's blanks. 'Long story, doesn't matter now because this isn't what happened last time.'

'You shouldn't have tried picking it up if you were aware of the damage it could cause,' Jack said to Ianto, who was now carrying the object over to where he and Gwen stood. 'Anything could have happened.'

Gwen took a sudden step back as the overwhelming urge to grab the object washed over her. She marched off back towards the door at a fast pace, not looking back, determined not to let whatever the object was get to her.

'Gwen?' Jack called after her.

'I'm fine! Just don't bring that thing near me.'

Ianto quickly told Jack about Gwen's connection to the object as they followed after her, keeping a few steps behind.

The rain was hammering down when they reached the SUV, bouncing up off the sleek bonnet like liquid fireworks. Ianto hurriedly stowed the object in the boot and got into the back seat. Jack was already in the driver's seat, Gwen next to him on the front passenger side.

'I really need to get a better look at that thing,' Jack said, talking about the object still glowing in their boot. 'Why Gwen is drawn to it and what it could've done to make you two repeat a day.'

'What the hell, Jack? Did you say _repeat _a day?' Gwen cried.

'Maybe,' he said, revving the engine and getting the car into gear. 'You're either repeating a day or have been unwittingly sent back in time twenty-four hours. Repeating seems more likely.'

'What're you saying, Jack?' Ianto asked quietly.

'What I think I'm saying is this: welcome to the wonderful world of timeloops.'

…*…

A/N: Thanks to those who've reviewed! This is a sort of fill in chapter I guess, to get everybody up to speed. Hopefully starting to sort out any confusion!


	5. Chapter 5

DAY TWO 11:37

'So… Timeloops.'

They were back at the Hub, the three of them gathered around the long oval of the board room table, Gwen having patiently kept her questions until they were settled and Jack was ready to give them proper answers. It was Ianto's lilting voice that had broken the contemplative silence; Gwen was busy trying to blank out the nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach, the one that wanted her to reach out for the Rift object, which now sat pulsating golden light at the opposite end of the room.

'Timeloops,' Jack repeated, taking a long sip of his freshly-brewed coffee. He set the blue-and-white striped mug back down before he spoke again. 'Boy are you two in for some fun.'

'I don't know if I like the sound of that,' Gwen said, pausing for a moment before continuing. 'Come on then, give us some answers.'

'Give me your questions.'

'I think you know what our questions are, Jack, you've already heard them; the good old who, what, when, where and why. Oh, and of course _how _the hell?'

'Starting with that last one,' Jack said, shuffling in his seat to lean forward and rest his elbows on the desk, lacing his long fingers together. 'I can't tell you exactly, but I'd guess something to do with _that_-,' the fingers unlaced as Jack gestured in the direction of the object. Gwen avoided looking at it, instead staring into the depths of her mug.

'The phrase "no shit, Sherlock" comes to mind,' Ianto intoned dryly.

Jack permitted himself a fleeting smile before rounding on Ianto. 'You want answers, I'm trying to give them to you. You could at least act grateful.'

'I will be when you tell me something I don't already know.'

'Know-it-all,' Jack accused. 'You weren't so sure earlier.'

'I've had a chance to think when we were driving back here and it seems only logical. What else could have done this?'

Gwen exhaled loudly, blowing her hair from her face. She looked up between the two men.

'Ianto's right. You're both right. I can't think of anything else that could have done this… So what do we do about it?'

Jack's face appeared grim for a moment before he leant back on his chair, relaxing against it.

'That I know of? Not a lot. These things have a tendency to sort themselves out as they please.'

'Bloody brilliant.'

'Seconded,' Ianto added to Gwen's unenthusiastic response.

'I'll be taking a proper look at that thing after we're done here, might be able to come up with something. I don't want to keep your hopes up though, from my experience with timeloops, it's unlikely.'

'Then what the hell do we do, Jack?' Gwen asked, her voice an odd mix of frustration and helplessness.

'Keep looking for answers about how, but, from all that I know of timeloops, best you can do is ride it out. That's about it.'

'And how long could we be stuck playing out this same day?'

Jack's face clouded again. 'I've no idea, could be just another day, or maybe a few weeks… years even.'

'What?!' This exclamation was both Gwen and Ianto's; both feeling mutually doomed for a second.

'Hey, hey! Calm down, alright? I'm not going to do nothing at all, I'll try my best to sort this situation out, but it'll be tricky with just you two in the know. You're going to have remind me and update me on the problem every day for as long as it lasts.'

He glanced between Gwen's look of hopelessness and Ianto's relatively masked features, his face having ironed out any confusion and dismay after his and Gwen's shared outburst.

'It's not the end of the world,' he told his team firmly. 'And we know that- you've lived through this day safely just yesterday… Look,' he returned to his previous position leaning his elbows on the table again, sincerity and authority bleeding into his tone. 'I told you before, I'm going to fix this. _We're _going to fix this.'

'You just said-,' Ianto started.

'I know, I know,' Jack brushed him off, leaving Ianto with his mouth hanging open. It took a second for him to snap his jaw shut again. 'But, you have to try and understand, these things are different every time, none of them are ever quite the same.'

'Why?' Gwen asked.

'Oh, loads of reasons. That's the thing with problems in time, especially linear time- a problem can be caused by different things for different reasons, different events playing out, even though they may not be quite the same each time… Least we can do is try and solve the issue here. There might be something we ca do, but, like I said, don't keep your hopes up.'

'Right,' Gwen agreed, snapping out of her hopeless daze. They couldn't just give up. 'First things first, how do you think this might work, Jack? I mean, I know you said they're different every time, but you've got experience.'

'With John,' Ianto added, a note of bitterness in the way he spoke the other man's name as he recalled their first meeting in Bar Reunion. Jack flicked his gaze briefly onto the younger man before nodding in agreement with Gwen.

'We'll take it head on. What do we know so far?'

'I know that the date should be Wednesday July eighteenth,' Ianto started. 'If that's any help.'

'Yeah,' Jack encouraged. 'Keep going. What happened on July seventeenth?'

'Paperwork, me and you set up the cameras for the Dwarnbird migration and there was a weevil alert with no weevils,' Ianto reeled off.

'Okay, that much I remember. Now, how about what happened last time you played through the eighteenth of July?'

Gwen quickly told the story to Jack and he nodded along, listening intently without interruption. When she had finished, Jack stared intently at the object opposite him, something niggling at the back of his mind. It was familiar, but why, and where from? If he could just remember… He closed his eyes for a second before he spoke again.

'This timeloop, it's focused on you two- you're like the epicentre, you're caught in the eye of the storm, the only two people who know that anything is wrong. I know the feeling.'

'So it's something to do with us?' Gwen asked hesitantly. 'Or is it just because of that blast yesterday. I mean, yesterday for us when… This is going to get complicated if it goes on for too long.' She sighed.

'I'd say it was something to do with the blast, yes,' Jack said slowly as he ran through the story Gwen had just recounted in his mind. 'And something to do with you, Gwen. Why is it that you're drawn towards the object?'

'Wish I knew.'

'Yeah. Just… Stay away from it, alright? It seem safe for me and Ianto to handle- and, Ianto, you probably shouldn't've picked it up earlier after what happened to you guys last time-,' Ianto simply shrugged at this comment, 'I'm going to take a closer look at it. I feel like I've seen something like it before.'

'Where?' Ianto was quick to question.

'I'm not quite sure, just got this feeling when I look at it. Like déjà vu…'

Ianto snorted at Jack's statement.

'We're all going to have to get used to that feeling then,' he said.

…*…

DAY TWO 13:08

Jack frowned at the object in front of him. He'd been examining it in the board room for the past hour or so, but he didn't seem to be getting anywhere. An empty pizza box lay abandoned on the board room table, grease soaking through the cardboard leaving the lingering smell of pepperoni on the wood.

He used the table to push himself up onto his feet. He paced once around the table, keeping his eyes on the object. Without Gwen present, it glowed less, but there was still something unearthly about it. Jack took it in his hands, marvelling at how light and smooth the metal felt against his skin.

The nagging in the back of his mind was becoming very frustrating for Jack. His two thousand year penance for losing Gray had not done anything to help his already old (by human standards) memory and Jack hated not having the information he wanted straight at his fingertips.

Jack got the feeling that he had learnt something about the Rift object before him during his life as a Time Agent. However, maybe he had dismissed it as unimportant or irrelevant… Or uninteresting, that seemed more likely as Jack remembered the man he had been in the fifty-first century. He felt so disconnected from that man now, the man with his birth name was somebody else, a character in his past that he had been for a fleeting time…

He ran his hands over the surface, eyebrows still furrowed in frown of annoyance and concentration. His hands met with the jagged end of the object and he let out a short gasp of surprise- it was sharp, and icy cold to the touch.

'Anything?' It was Ianto, stepping in through the board room door, one hand in his trouser pocket.

Jack raised his eye line from the object to look at Ianto from under the ends of his hair.

'Nothing useful,' he answered, setting the object back on the table with a dull clunk. 'It was definitely a part of something and if I could find out what that was, I might have a better idea…'

'What about that other thing that came through the Rift this morning; the one that was taken again before you got to it? Could that be the missing piece?'

'Could be. If I'd got there a couple of seconds earlier….'

'Don't worry about it, Jack. There's always the chance to try again tomorrow. Third time lucky and all that.'

Ianto was smiling wryly at Jack, the irony he saw evident in the action.

'I was thinking,' Ianto continued. 'Of placing a couple of heavy bets on sports events, since I know the outcomes…'

'I should probably tell you not to do that,' Jack said, grinning at Ianto across the table. 'But I can't see the harm in it.'

'Of course, I'd have to place the same bets every day until this finished. I'm assuming that everything, including bank details, gets reversed back to how it was each time the loop restarts from the beginning of the eighteenth?'

'Yep. You won't be able to leave yourself any notes on anything we work out, or leave me any reminders. They'll all just disappear. You have to rely on your memory of each previous day until this is over.'

'We just have to break the loop.'

'Wait for something to break the loop anyway.'

Ianto gathered up the pizza box from the table, flipping the lid closed.

'Don't forget, Dwarnbird migration starts at three,' he reminded Jack before he walked out again. The door slid shut behind him, leaving Jack alone with the object and his blurry, half-memories once again.

…*…

DAY TWO 16:17

'This sucks,' Gwen announced as Ianto rounded the corner from Jack's office to where Gwen was seated. Jack was currently sat, bored, in his office monitoring the final few straggling Dwarnbirds as they journeyed through the Rift on their migratory path.

'You're going to have to be more specific,' Ianto told her as he approached. 'Unless you're just talking about life in general.'

Gwen shot him a mock glare. 'Do you know what I've just realised?' she asked him.

'From what I gather, you've just realised that something sucks.'

'You can be very difficult to talk to sometimes, Ianto, do you know that?'

'Is this something you have also _just _realised? Owen noticed it straight away.'

'I swear, working with you and Jack is going to drive me insane…'

'Sorry, Gwen. You were saying?'

'Yes, as I was saying, I've just realised that for as long as this timeloop thing lasts, we're going to have to complete the same paper work day in, day out.'

Ianto looked suitably horrified at the prospect. 'I hadn't thought of that…'

'Yep, same paper work, same Rift alert every morning…'

'At least you don't have to start everyday catching three weevils at two in the morning,' Ianto pointed out.

Gwen rested a sympathetic hand on the younger man's arm. 'If you ever want to just call me when you get the alert…' she said sincerely.

'Don't worry, Gwen, it'll be fine. I'm more worried about having to wake up in Jack's military bed everyday- that thing is going to give me some serious back problems.'

Gwen laughed and lifted her hand, jokingly swatting Ianto away.

'Coffee?' she pleaded him with wide eyes.

Ianto glanced at his watch.

'You might as well go home, Gwen. We know nothing interesting is going to happen and there's not really anything for you to here. Nothing that won't get reversed by the next time round anyway.'

'I don't know,' Gwen said unsurely. 'Jack said that even a little action altered from the previous time can lead to events playing out differently…'

'Seriously, Gwen, what're you going to do? Go home and make Rhys dinner _on time_, unlike before? Surely that'll lead to things going better?'

'Maybe you're right,' she said, flicking off the screen in front of her. 'I was a bit short with him this morning, before we knew about what was going on… I thought he'd forgotten that we'd talked about- something important,' she explained, not giving Ianto the specifics due to them being related to her long hours at Torchwood. She didn't want to make him feel guilty in any way.

Ianto didn't question her any further, just nodded in understanding.

'I'll tell Jack you've left then.'

'What will you do?'

'Hang around here, wait for the migration to finish…' he said. 'Not a lot, really, but not much point in me going anywhere just to wind up back here. I mean, I could be on a flight to Australia only to wake up back in the Hub with the weevil alarm going off.'

'Why would you be going to Australia?' Gwen asked as she slipped her jacket on.

'I've got the codes to Torchwoods bank accounts and I'm running away with them,' he grinned and Gwen laughed.

'Right,' she smiled at him. 'Tell Jack I've gone and I'll see you when this all begins again tomorrow.'

'Round three.'

'Round three,' she agreed. 'Bye, Ianto.'

'Bye, Gwen.'

...*...

A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed previous chapters! Hope you enjoyed chapter five.


	6. Chapter 6

DAY THREE

10: 08

'And this is now the third time you two have been through this day?' Jack asked, voice raised slightly over the sound of the rain hammering down on the bonnet of the stationary SUV.

'Yes,' Gwen answered from the back for her and Ianto, who was in the driving seat, one eye kept on the Rift monitor as they waited for the expected alert.

'So, the past two times you've played this day out, there was a Rift alert at this location-,' Jack jammed a thumb against the window at the derelict warehouses outside.

'Don't touch the windows,' Ianto was quick to scold with a faint scowl directed at Jack. 'It takes me ages to get fingerprints off.'

Jack let his hand drop, the only sign that he had acknowledged the other man, before he continued. 'At this location at quarter past ten-,'

'Yes, and two objects come through… Came through?' Gwen corrected herself hesitantly. 'Oh, I dunno, it doesn't matter, all you need to know is that two objects are about to come through and we need to try and get hold of both of them.'

'Before the Rift reclaims the object that is furthest from here,' Jack finished for her, showing that he had been paying attention when she had had to explain the timeloop situation to him. It had felt odd to Gwen, being the one in the know, having Jack be the member of the group who knew nothing and had to have everything recounted.

'Yeah, see, me and Ianto were discussing this earlier when you were on the phone and we decided that it might be a good idea to try and collect both items, in case they're both related to this…'

'Problem?' Ianto suggested.

'That's pretty much what it is. Not the end of the world, just a … problem,' she repeated Ianto's word choice.

'Makes sense,' Jack agreed, straightening in his seat and twisting round awkwardly so that he could better see Gwen. 'And you're also saying that you can't touch the object because it explodes?'

'Doesn't really explode,' Ianto pointed out, 'it's more an expulsion of energy. The object itself seemed to be largely unaffected.'

'Huh, that's definitely interesting… So any contact you have with the object causes it to expel energy?'

'Did the first time.'

'And the second?'

'Hasn't been a second time. I just let you and Ianto handle it, seems safest that way.'

'Right, so let's assume that you can't handle the other object for the same reason. I'll head over to collect it, Ianto, you can grab the usual one. Gwen, you might as well just sit tight for a few minutes after they come through.'

Gwen usually hated when she could do nothing to help, but she understood that Jack was only trying to help rectify the situation. She didn't want to risk being unable to contain the urge to touch the object and cause another explosion- especially if her reaction to the other object was stronger.

She nodded in agreement with Jack's instruction.

'As long as I get to drive back,' she grinned. Speeding down the dual carriageway in the SUV was always fun.

…*…

DAY THREE

10: 58

The two Rift objects sat on the boardroom table in front of Jack and Gwen, the more familiar of the two still pulsing with its strange gold light. It had not proved too difficult for Jack to retrieve the second object before it disappeared on them again, as he had arrived on the scene mere moments after it first came through the Rift.

It looked similar to their original find- a bronze sliver of metal, though slightly smaller and less rounded. At its wider end there was the same evidence of a breakage as with the other object, allowing Jack to safely conclude that both objects had once been part of a whole, especially as the jagged edges fit together like pieces of a serrated jigsaw puzzle. However, there was something a bit more interesting about this second piece- a slightly dented and bent gold cog inlaid with three delicately pointed needles, like the hands on a clock, was attached on a rotating base to the narrow end of the straight. Part of an intricate system, Jack had surmised as he idly spun the cog on its base, so that the metal purred softly and the needles juddered. This object also glowed with the same gold light, especially when in close proximity to either Gwen or the other object.

'There's certainly something familiar about both of these,' Jack said quietly, still flicking the cog round as he stared at the objects. Gwen noted that he hadn't blinked in almost a minute, he was so deep in thought.

'Should we maybe try slotting them together? Fix it?' she asked, squirming slightly in her seat. Quashing the restless need to touch the objects was making her uncomfortable, but she had insisted on being present for a discussion on them. She felt a tingling in her right index finger again, an alien spark of excitement that she had experienced before she first touched the object, causing it to explode. She tried to subtly shift the chair further up the table away from the objects. Her movement caused Jack to look up.

'I want to get some energy readings off them individually first,' he said, stretching out a finger to stop the cog spinning. 'If Ianto can find that Vandragonite scanner in the Archives that is.'

They had found the Vandragonite scanner at the building site of the new shopping arcade in the centre of Cardiff following Rift activity, shortly before Tosh and Owen had died. Jack had looked it over before Tosh had had a chance to get her technological mind around it, explaining that it was a sort of cataloguing system for energies and radiation- a Vandragonite engineer's tool, all you had to do was scan an item and the readings should show up and energy traces, letting you know if they were dangerous.

Jack's piercing eyes fell on Gwen. 'Maybe we should scan you over with it too, see if you're giving off any readings that might explain why you're drawn to these,' he jerked his head at the objects on the table. 'Maybe it's not you at all, if you get my meaning.'

Gwen nodded. 'Yeah, maybe something alien I've come into contact with. Could be anything really.' She sighed. 'The longer this timeloop thing goes on, the more complicated it seems to get.'

Jack laughed good-naturedly. 'Keep peeling the onion, Gwen.'

Just then, Ianto walked in under the sliding door, the round-edged square of the Vandragonite scanner held almost reverently in his two hands. Anything he collected from the Archives was treated with this respect; though whether it was in fact respect, or fear that the object was dangerous and may explode at any moment, Gwen wasn't quite sure.

'Any luck on the memory front, Jack?' Ianto asked as he handed the object over to their leader.

'A little hazy, but there's a definite niggle there,' Jack answered, tapping his temple with a curved finger. 'It's like, I know they're a part of something, bigger than just these two parts, but I can't remember what.'

'Give it time, Jack,' Gwen said reassuringly as Ianto slid into his seat opposite her.

'For now, we all have plenty of it,' Ianto added. 'Which reminds me, am I aging?'

'Why, worried about grey hairs?' Jack teased.

Ianto mock laughed, before continuing. 'I'm serious, Jack. When Gwen and I come out of this at the other end, will we be biologically older? Everyone else might not be, but because we can recollect the events of every day, will we continue to age past everyone?'

This thought had not occurred to Gwen and she was now worried at it having been brought to her attention.

'Please tell me we're not, Jack,' she said, wide-eyed. 'Because if this goes on as long as you said it might do, Rhys is going to start asking questions when I've got extra wrinkles!'

'If he's a good husband then he'll save himself the hassle and not point out stuff like that,' Jack said, avoiding the question.

'Jack…' Gwen warned, knowing he didn't want to answer.

Jack looked between Gwen and Ianto before sighing heavily.

'I don't know,' he said finally.

'I knew it,' Ianto said as if his worst expectations had been confirmed. 'If I keep track of the number of days that pass I might remember to celebrate my birthday when I biologically reach the right age, whether it's still July eighteenth or not.'

As he stood up, Jack pushed his chair back with his legs.

'Let's not worry about that now,' he said firmly. He thumbed the buttons on the side of the scanner screen. It flickered into life with a dull green glow. 'Now's the time to get some answers.'

He pressed another button and rolled his thumb down the edge of the screen, which was touch sensitive as he had shown them when they discovered it. Vandragonites didn't have fingerprints to pick up grime and dirt, so the screen always stayed clean.

'I'll just calibrate the scanner…' he murmured, now rubbing his finger across the screen. Gwen met Ianto's bemused eyes as Jack prodded at a few select points on the monitor, which emitted a sharp plip seconds later. Jack grinned up at them 'All set. Ianto, hold object number one while I scan it.'

'Is that what we're calling it?' Ianto questioned as he stood and held the object as requested.

'Have you got a better name?' Jack queried as he aimed the scanner, letting the scanning beam of green light from the machine roam over the object and Ianto, whose pale face was lit up eerily.

'That tickles,' he stated, wrinkling his nose. 'And no, not until we know what it does. I find that helps the naming process along.'

'Then, for now, this is Object One and that is Object Two…' The scanner plipped again and retracted the light. Ianto rolled his shoulders as he set the newly dubbed Object One back on the table and reached for Object Two.

'What's it say, Jack?' Gwen asked. 'Anything useful?'

Jack frowned at the screen.

'Nothing too unusual, residual traces of Rift energy, as expected and… Chronon radiation? That's interesting… Ianto, hold that steady or all the readings I'm going to get will be whatever's on you. Not that I don't already know.'

Ianto simply rolled his eyes and held the object at arms length away from his body.

Gwen had no idea what Chronon radiation was, or why Jack should find it interesting, but she remained silent as he scanned Object Two. There was a clunk as Ianto set it back down on the table, jack having finished his scans.

'Same readings as Object One, though slightly higher levels of Chronon radiation,' he told them, knowing that neither she nor Ianto would understand.

'What's Chronon radiation, Jack? Is it dangerous?' Gwen's tone was slightly anxious now.

'I'll explain in a minute, and no, it's perfectly safe,' he said dismissively. 'Stand up, Gwen, I'm very interested in scanning you now.'

Gwen raised her eyebrows at Jack as she stood up and stepped to the side, facing him. Jack simply smirked in response, lifting the machine to scan her.

'Don't laugh,' he instructed.

'Why would I?'

'Like Ianto said, it tickles.'

Gwen didn't have time to respond before she found herself bathed in the green light, running probingly up and down the length of her body, shining in her eyes. She stood rigid, as Jack had asked, trying not to fidget under the light tickling sensation she felt on her skin, even under her clothes. The corners of her lips quirked up as she fought the instinct to bat the feeling away. Then, the green light stopped.

She blinked slowly, before turning to Ianto with a slight shiver.

'That does tickle.'

Ianto shrugged. 'The effect alien tech has on us poor humans…'

'Ooh, now this is interesting… and unexpected,' Jack's voice interrupted them from where he was stood, feet planted shoulder width apart, staring at the alien device.

'What? What is it?' Gwen paced over to look at the scanner screen, knowing that she would understand very little of what it displayed. Jack glanced down at her, before pointing at a static neon green line marked with a CX at the top of the screen. There was a very small spike in the line just above Jack's fingernail.

'See that?' he started. 'That there is a trace of Chronon radiation. But how has it ended up on you, Gwen Cooper?'

Gwen took a step back. Jack liked to use their full names when he discovered something that particularly intrigued him.

'I'm beginning to get a little worried now, Jack, especially with you looking at me like that.'

'Like what?' he was quick to ask, as if offended.

'Like I'm some sort of specimen or zoo animal! What's so interesting about this Chronon radiation anyway? It's not going to kill me, is it?'

'No, like I said, perfectly safe. If you were to scan me you'd find I'm covered in it.'

'Then what the hell is it? Where's it come from?'

'Humans usually pick up Chronon radiation when exposed to active time travel, or manipulations of time,' Jack explained. 'I've travelled in time, therefore I'm practically coated in the stuff. But why should you be, Gwen? As far as I know, you've never left your personal time zone.'

'Something to do with the timeloop perhaps,' Ianto suggested from where he was sat, looking up at the two.

'No, no traces of Chronon radiation on you, I scanned at you at the same time as Object Two.'

'I thought you didn't want to do that?'

'Yeah, well I did. It was easier when you held the object further away from yourself, easier to get separate readings. Didn't get any unusual readings from you, certainly no evidence of Chronon radiation.'

'Then why do I have it?' Gwen broke in quietly.

Jack lowered his hand, letting the scanner hang loosely by his side.

'I don't know, Gwen, but I assure you, it's nothing to worry about. It at least explains why you feel drawn to Objects One and Two.'

'If you're as covered in the stuff as you say you are, then how come you don't feel drawn to them as well?'

Jack seemed to ponder his next words for a moment. 'Different kinds of Chronon radiation. I've been exposed to an active source of the radiation, leaving spent residual traces on me. You seem to have picked up some sort of semi-active static radiation that can't act alone… The objects have traces of active radiation and they're utilising it to try and attract each other, some sort of defunct security feature… The static traces in you are drawn to this, taking you with them.'

'I think I understand,' Gwen said slowly. 'And the radiation on me isn't drawn towards yours because-,'

'Mine's kinda dried up, just traces that it was there. Like when a puddle dries and leaves a damp patch behind- you know the water was there, but it's not anymore.'

Gwen nodded and collapsed into her seat.

'This is making my head hurt.'

Jack smiled sympathetically. 'I could always try explaining Yolang's Quasi-Quantum-,'

'No, too many words beginning with Q!' Gwen protested.

Jack slumped back into his chair, a look of mock put-out on his face as he pouted.

'Fine, I was just-,' he stopped suddenly, having barely started his sentence. 'I remember something now, the two objects…'

He reached out and stroked a hand along Object One before retracting his arm and running his hand over his face. Gwen and Ianto stared expectantly at Jack as he gouged the heels of his hands into his eyes. The he snapped them open, head flicking up so quick his neck clicked.

'A prototype,' he said. 'That's what they were a part of. A very early- and probably not quite successful- forty-ninth century prototype model for a working time machine.'

…*…

A/N: Thanks for reviews! Was originally going to be a bit more to this chapter, but this seemed like a good place to stop without it getting too long. I apologise to anyone who understands science and radiation and time travel better than I do- I had to be a bit creative and take liberties, but hopefully it still makes sense. Oh, and I borrowed 'Vandragonite' from the Torchwood novel 'Pack Animals'- I was reading it this morning and the idea of another cataloguing device seemed to fit. Enough rambling. Hope you enjoyed!


	7. Chapter 7

DAY THREE

12: 02

Jack had tried to explain and answer as many of Gwen and Ianto's questions following his sudden remembrance as he could, but it was difficult and Jack's ancient memory was feeling the strain. He had been wary of giving too many details of the future to the two, not knowing what the knowledge would bring. In the end, Jack had trusted them to keep what he told them to themselves and really, what harm could it do? None of what he explained affected their personal timelines; they would both be long gone before the forty-ninth century rolled around.

Provided Jack spared them the complicated details of the maths and physics associated with early time travel, it was relatively simple to explain.

Humans, having near-perfected the science of space travel enough to spread themselves throughout the Universe by the thirty-sixth century, did not get close to unravelling the mysteries of time travel until the forty-eighth century- and even then they were given a helping hand by other likeminded species.

It started with experiments and research into the nature of time; things that had been theorised about even in the twentieth century. Formulae, equations and all kinds of theories started to piece together in the early thirty-second century, but there were still gaps of vital information missing. Then, in the forty-third century, a human-cat hybrid scientist discovered the Time Vortex, describing it simply as the 'road through time'. It took several hundred more years of research until humans and their allied alien neighbours were able to access and encompass the Vortex for their own purposes and the first successful time jump took place at the end of the forty-eight century, after several failing prototypes. One of which Torchwood Three now had the missing parts of.

Following the first successful human journey in time, the science of time travel was further enhanced. Initially, humans could only jump back short spaces through time, having to be extremely wary of time lines as they were likely to cross their own. However, by the fifty-first century, Jack's time, the science had been replicated by many and the machines reduced rapidly in size until it could all be neatly packaged in a wrist strap for convenience. Rather like the downsizing of Babbage's first computer to the ultra-thin laptops of the twenty-first century, Jack said. By the time Jack joined the Time Agency, created to police (Jack struggled to think of a better description for the work of his old employers) time travel at the end of the forty-ninth century (Jack was loathe to go into too much detail surrounding the Time Agency, only mentioning it the once), humans were also able to make short jumps forward in time, around a maximum of fifty years, but this was strongly advised against- so, of course, all of the Time Agents did it.

'Which meant we could never make it to the year 6969,' Jack said sadly as he finished up his history lesson- well, future lesson for Gwen and Ianto. 'And I bet that's a great year, it certainly has a lot of promise to live up to its name.'

Gwen and Ianto were looking at Jack in silent disbelief. They had both seen a lot in their short lives, from alien races to the Earth being moved across the Universe to the dead being resurrected… but the concept of time travel and knowing how it worked out in the future was overwhelming. It really hit home to the pair that Jack was not of their time, that where he had come from _in the future_ was so different to their own small concept of the world.

Gwen rubbed a hand over her face tiredly, mind buzzing. All of this information sounded so unreal, like something out of one of Rhys' bizarre sci-fi movies, yet Jack had told it all with such sincerity.

'This is…' she started and failed to finish. For once, Ianto also failed to suggest the word she was searching for.

'I know,' Jack replied, seeming to understand what she was trying to say, even if Gwen didn't. 'It's a lot to take in, and, frankly, I'm surprised I remembered it… It was drummed in pretty thoroughly at the Agency though, not that we always paid the best attention…'

The room was silent again for a moment, so quiet that Jack and Ianto's watches could be heard ticking slightly out of sync with one another. Objects One and Two continued to pulse their golden light.

'Are you sure you should have told us all that, Jack?' Ianto asked eventually. Jack looked at him with a smile.

'Hey, if Martha can travel millions of years into the future, me telling you a bit about science you have no true concept of isn't going to hurt.'

'Now my head really hurts,' Gwen groaned, slumping her aforementioned head into her hands, elbows resting on the desk. 'Chronon radiation, Time Vortexes-,'

'Time Vortex,' Jack corrected. 'There's only one.'

'Oh alright, Time _Vortex_. At least when you told me about the aliens it was easy to see the proof, all you had to do was show me the Weevil.'

'I'm from the future, aren't I proof enough?'

'Yeah, Jack, but it's easier to think that you're all talk.'

'A lot of him _is _all talk,' Ianto added. 'I think it's just easier to pretend we believe everything he says.'

'I'm not sure if I resent that statement,' Jack said in mock-offense. 'Honestly, I explain the wonders of the future to two simple-minded twenty-first century humans-,'

'Hey!' Gwen protested indignantly, lifting her head out of her hands, dark hair falling across her face.

'Okay, fine, two twenty-first century humans and all you can do is insinuate that you think I made it all up! Must be that Welsh thing again; do you go out of your way to find fault deliberately?'

'No, Jack, we do believe you,' Gwen said hurriedly, brushing a strand of hair from her lips. She met Ianto's eyes across the table. 'Don't we, Ianto?'

'Obviously.'

Jack eyed the Welshman shrewdly.

'And now I don't know whether you're being sarcastic…'

Ianto simply raised his eyebrows, his unique way of telling Jack to figure it out for himself.

Gwen leaned back in her chair and pursed her lips.

'This is all very interesting, Jack- _really _interesting, and a little bit insane-,' Jack bobbed his head understandingly at that, 'but is it really helpful to what's going on here and now?'

Jack rubbed his thumb along the side of his nose before dropping his hand to rest on the arm rest of his chair, which he then gripped loosely.

'It helps you understand the objects and lets me clear my head to think, possibly come up with a solution to end this timeloop,' he answered eventually. 'Anything we know can prove useful.'

'And now we know that we are in possession of two pieces of prototype time machine from the future,' Ianto said.

'Explains the Chronon radiation,' Jack said. 'Time machinery is awash with it, part of the power source, that's why humans pick it up when they use time travel devices.'

'Still doesn't explain why I've picked it up,' Gwen pointed out.

'Another mystery, seeing as you've never actually _travelled _in time. Coming into contact with those two wouldn't be enough to rub off on you, they're not active enough.' Jack waved his hand airily at this point. 'We'll figure it out.'

He drummed his hands in a quick rhythm across the desktop and stood up, the legs of his chair scraping loudly across the floor.

'All this talking has made me hungry. Ianto?'

'Sandwiches today I think. I'll have to go out to Tesco though, after I've returned the Vandragonite scanner to the Archives- ham salad, Gwen?' Ianto said as he, too, stood, scooping the scanner up in his right hand. Gwen nodded in reply.

'One minute we're discussing time travel and the future, the next we're deciding what to have for lunch… Just when you think you're getting used to this job,' she said, shaking her head as she followed the two men out and up to the Hub proper, leaving the two broken pieces of time machine glowing in the darkness of the boardroom.

…*…

DAY FOUR

01: 59

They were chasing the Weevils again, just Jack and Ianto running through the twilit streets of a Cardiff night. As they ran, the only sounds their quick, steady footsteps, pants of breath and in the distance, the low hum of a lone car, Ianto brought all of his memories of the previous day to the forefront of his mind.

They were clearly still in the time loop, the Weevil hunt becoming a usual morning fixture for Ianto. He was a little peeved off that this meant he was forced to wear the same suit everyday; even though it was always clean, he couldn't help but feel dirty slipping into what felt like four-day-old clothes.

Ianto recalled all of what he could of the previous three turns so that he could and Gwen could fill Jack in when she arrived at the Hub later that morning. Between them, they had agreed that it would be easier all round if they were both present when Jack was given his daily reminder and update on the time loop situation.

As Ianto was lamenting the loss of his diary as a recording tool (since it would be wiped back to July seventeenth every morning he awoke in the time loop), struggling to decipher between events that happened the second time round between the similar pattern of the third, Jack came to a stop. Ianto almost crashed into the back of him, though he should really have been expecting it.

Jack squinted at him in the darkness. Ianto heard his breathing, slightly heavier than if they had been walking.

'You awake there?' he asked, damping the volume of his voice in the night.

'As much as I'll ever be at two in the morning.'

The truthful answer was that having to deal with the same three Weevils so early every morning was beginning to wear Ianto down, but he refused to call Gwen. He could sort his own problems; he'd been awake working solidly for longer hours before.

Jack, however, accepted his response, no further questions asked.

'Right, I'll take those two down behind the cinema, you alright to grab the third round the back there?'

Unlike the sudden stop, Ianto had anticipated Jack's next question and replied with the same answer he had given every night with a slight smirk, like he was in a joke that Jack wasn't. And he was, though it wasn't really a laughing matter.

'Think I've had enough experience with Weevils to deal with one alone now, Jack.'

As he had every previous time, Jack laughed, as the words were new to him all over again. Ianto wondered if that was what being a stand-up comedian as like, having people laugh cathartically as he recycled the same jokes every performance.

The Weevil in the alley ceased its rummaging and snarled as it felt Jack and Ianto's eyes on it. Jack clapped Ianto good-naturedly on the shoulder.

'Bet I'll have my two sorted before you've sedated that one,' he grinned, already taking backward steps in the direction he needed to go. 'Be careful!' He span on his heel, coat billowing out behind him as he ran, long legs pumping. It was funny, Ianto thought, how some nights Jack said things and acted slightly different to the previous. How many different versions of this day would Ianto get to see?

Ianto shifted the sleeve of his gun arm up over his elbow and reached into his pocket to retrieve his automatic. The grip was pleasantly cool against his palm, slightly sweat-sticky from the exertion of dashing from the SUV parked around the corner. He took a few steps down the alley, the Weevil eyeing him warily, curved arms swinging with a momentum of their own. It cocked its head as Ianto withdrew his hand from his pocket, gun now in his right hand, Weevil spray in his left. Snorted a foul breath as Ianto approached closer.

Seeming to sense what was about to happen, the Weevil loped forward a few steps, baring its teeth in warning, hissing when it heard the rattle of the spray canister in Ianto's hand.

Shoot to daze, spray to disable- a handy motto to remember when dealing with Weevils.

Another few steps closer and the putrid stench coming off the alien creature was about enough to make Ianto feel nauseous. This one smelt worse than usual, and Ianto had dealt with a lot of Weevils.

Suddenly, there was a commotion from behind the Weevil, enough to startle it into action who started a lop-sided run in Ianto's direction. It crashed into Ianto's shoulder, not bothering to engage in a proper fight as it continued down the dark street. Ianto managed to squeeze off a skewered shot without taking time to aim properly first. He saw the bullet glance off the Weevils forearm, causing it to growl angrily, but not enough for it to stop or turn back to swipe at the man who had shot it.

Ianto wheeled around to face the noise that had scared the Weevil off before he had had a chance to sedate it. And was faced with another Weevil, this one bigger, with a noticeable rip down the front of its boiler suit, exposing raw skin beneath. Something had clearly gone wrong when Jack was trying to bring this one down.

Without warning, the Weevil charged at Ianto who raised his arm to spray it full on in the face, but he misjudged the stretch of its arms and the Weevil swung one out to bat the canister out of his hand. This one was smart, had learnt from watching Jack take out the other Weevil.

It swung the arm back in a rage, cracking resoundingly across the side of Ianto's face, the force enough to knock him sideways to the ground, where he landed awkwardly on his shoulder, crushing his arm under his body weight. Ianto's ears rang, he could feel the blood rising to the surface where the Weevil had made contact as he rolled rapidly out of the Weevil's range.

This only served to further irritate the creature, who made a sudden lunge at Ianto as he tried to pull himself up the wall and back onto his feet. Ianto let out a cry of pain as his skull smacked against the charred bricks and he fell back down to the ground, the Weevil on top of him, clawing at his collar to expose his neck and the blood beating audibly beneath.

Ianto pushed against the Weevil with all his might, trying to throw it off himself. His attempts only led to him getting a good look into the intense charcoal eyes of the alien carnivore before it hissed out rank spit onto Ianto's face. Ianto kicked out, scrabbling with one hand on the floor in a futile attempt to reach for his weevil spray.

The ends of his fingers were just brushing against the cool metal edges of the canister when he felt the Weevils teeth first sink into his neck, just above his jugular. He let out a startled cry, a mixture of pain and shock.

'Ianto!'

Jack was standing at the mouth of the alley, Webley out, calculating his chances of accidentally catching Ianto with a bullet as the he and the Weevil semi-wrestled on the ground, mixing Ianto's blood with the grime of a Cardiff back alley.

The Weevil found good footing, used a clawed hand to hold Ianto's head back in order to better access his jugular vein. Ianto felt the wound tear open wider as his neck bent back, felt the dirty, jagged claws rake across his forehead leaving an uneven pattern of lines across the thin layer of skin, felt himself growing faint…

Jack lunged forward, old-style revolver primed as he landed on the back of the Weevil, where he promptly shot it sideways through the skull just as it sunk its teeth into Ianto again. The bullet went clean through, exiting the other side of the Weevils head in a tidy spurt of dark blood. He threw the Weevil corpse of Ianto, who was writhing in pain on the gum-speckled floor.

The pain seemed to Ianto to have been ignited along the fresh edges of his wound, flames grating their way across the skin, encouraging the blood out. He lifted a wavering hand and pressed it to the wound, coming away sticky and scarlet-stained with his blood.

'Ianto?' Jack's blurry face swam into view as Ianto struggled to keep his heavy eyelids open. Even his words seemed out of focus. 'No, you've gotta stay with me, Ianto, I can't-,'

But Ianto didn't hear the end of the sentence as he let the black wash over him, the soothing darkness taking him away from the pain.

…*…

A/N: Thanks to those who have reviewed, hope you enjoyed this instalment- and the mean cliffhanger…


	8. Chapter 8

DAY FOUR

08:57

After the blaring of the alarms to announce her arrival, Gwen found herself standing in an empty Hub. Some of the computers were already up and running, filling the air with a steady hum, the sound mixing with that of the water cascading down the mirrored tower.

As she walked up the stairs, Gwen caught the sound of Jack's voice floating through the door of his office, which had been left ajar- his daily phone call to UNIT, another reminder that she was still caught in the time loop. It was beginning to feel slightly claustrophobic. She shrugged off her jacket and slung it over the back of her chair, straining her ears to hear what Jack was saying. Gwen thought the man sounded more irritated than previous times, his voice raised so that she could better hear him through the small gap between the glass than usual.

'No, no, I don't care what you think!'

Gwen could hear him as she tapped away at her keyboard, rattling her pass codes into the computer to log her in for the day.

'Torchwood had nothing to do with that incident, General, and you know it!'

Gwen frowned, wondering what incident Jack could be referring to. If it hadn't involved Torchwood perhaps she hadn't heard about it… She idly wondered if Ianto would know… And where was he anyway?

'My team still functions perfectly fine, and I will not have you imposing yourself on us… Yes, yes, I know I made a request for Dr. Jones to join my team… Well it was informal and, quite frankly, you shouldn't have been listening in!'

Jack was drumming his fingers repetitively across the desk, Gwen was sitting quiet enough to hear the frustrated duh-duh-duh-dum that Jack probably didn't realise he was making. She leant back against her chair and heard it squeak.

'Yes, General, I _do _still need a medic… Yes… And I'm almost willing to take you up on that offer today, almost… Why? I don't have to answer to you… Because I know you'd use the medic as a spy in my organisation, gathering information on our operations and feeding back to you!... Oh, don't deny it, General, you tried it before, after Alex in '99…Why am I tempted by your offer today?… Not that it's any of your business, but only months ago I lost two members of my team-,'

Gwen could still hear the hurt in Jack's voice, the way he rolled the words off his tongue a little too casually, despite the harsh tone with which he addressed the UNIT General. She shut her own eyes as images of Owen and Tosh flashed up in her mind.

'- and last night I almost lost another; and I'm sick of the human cost! That's why I could almost accept your medic, if I didn't understand your motives like I already do…'

Gwen froze. Had Jack said that he'd almost lost another team member last night? Where was Ianto and what had happened to him? Oh god…

She heard Jack stand just as she did so herself.

'So, no thank you, General, I will not accept anybody other than Dr. Jones… That's her decision though isn't it?... No, you just tell her… Tell her that I almost lost Ianto, then we'll see what she decides… No- _no_, goodbye, General.'

The sound of the phone being slammed viciously into its cradle and Jack muttering something under his breath in frustration. Gwen wheeled around, heart pounding anxiously as she dreaded what Jack would tell her when she asked what exactly had happened… And she came face to face with Ianto, looking more than a little the worse for wear.

'He's exaggerating,' Ianto told her, watching apprehensively as she took in his battered appearance. 'But then, Jack always does…'

A bruise was swelling a brilliant inky purple beneath his right eye and the triple scarlet tracks of claw marks shone vividly across his forehead. Ianto's right arm was in a sling like a papoose, his elbow bent so much so that the bandaged right hand rested against his left shoulder. Gwen could just see the edges of gauze padding under his collar- and that was something else that looked odd to Gwen; Ianto was wearing casual clothes instead of his usual suit ensemble, a simple pair of faded jeans and a plain black t-shirt.

'Oh, Ianto…' she sighed gently, stepping towards him. She reached out a caring hand and tilted his chin, brushing the pad of her thumb across his jaw. 'What happened?'

Ianto smiled ruefully.

'Incident with a Weevil, but if anyone from the local A and E asks, it was a dog.'

'You went to A and E?'

'Where else were we supposed to go, Gwen?' this was Jack speaking from behind now, leaning against the door jamb of his office. 'I take it you just heard what I was saying on the phone?'

Gwen nodded a little guiltily, though her unintended eavesdropping did not appear to bother Jack.

'Then you heard me telling the General why we need a medic, and right now I'm almost willing to accept his, whether they'll act as a snitch for him or not…' He met Ianto's gaze across the room. 'On the plus side, your little tango with the Weevil might convince Martha that we need her more than UNIT does.'

'Great, a plus side,' Ianto said drily. 'And I thought the only good thing to come out of this would be further investigation as to how to remove blood from the upholstery in the SUV… I'm working on a new cleaning fluid,' he added, by way of explanation.

'Well you're not doing that until you're fully back in action, understood? You're on rest for today and limited to the use of your left arm anyway…'

'Shouldn't you be at home resting?' Gwen asked, though it was more of an indirect suggestion than a question.

'I was, I only came in about half an hour ago.'

'Why not stay home? You should at least spend today at home, Ianto.'

'You might need me,' he said, looking straight at Gwen, and she thought she understood what he wanted to say, but wouldn't with Jack still listening in.

'You try and make him leave,' Jack shrugged and turned back into his office.

'I haven't told him about the time loop,' Ianto explained, his voice lowered. 'Thought you might need my help on that on- and if we go collect the two Rift objects, you might need me since you can't touch them…'

Gwen nodded. 'We'll tell him now then, so we can be out ready for when they come through the Rift.'

…*…

DAY FOUR

16: 37

So far, the day had passed without any unexpected events. Gwen and Ianto had reiterated their story to Jack again, catching him up on the previous days. Jack, as before, was understanding and eager to help them out- something he had a better chance of doing once they had collected the two Objects and Ianto had told Jack what he remembered of Jack's tales the day before; that the objects were part of a prototype time machine and that Gwen had contracted some type of Chronon radiation.

They were now monitoring the materialising and dematerialising points of the Dwarnbird migration path, keeping an eye out for any irregularities. Ianto had moaned about completing the rather dull task again, complained that he already knew the outcome and what was the point? But Jack had been adamant that timeloops were tricky and you could never rely on them to repeat events exactly as before.

'Just look at you,' he said, as Ianto swallowed his third prescription painkiller of the day. 'That didn't happen yesterday, did it?'

'No,' Ianto said cagily. 'And I'd rather it didn't happen next time either, assuming that I magically heal overnight.'

'You will,' Jack assured him. 'Though I wouldn't call it magic…'

It was then that the alarm split through the air, causing Ianto to jump, though he tried to cover his flinching movement by leaning against the wall.

'What is it?' he asked, eyes on Gwen as she brought up an interactive map on her computer screen. Jack stood behind her, arms folded.

'I think Jack had a point about keeping an eye on this migration,' she said slowly. 'There's a police report just come in over the radio lines- sounds like a Weevil attack in Nant Fawr woods, two teenagers are dead… Bit of a funny witness report from some women who was walking her dog and ran for help; something about a man in a monster mask- that's the Weevil obviously- and big ravens…'

'The Dwarnbirds,' Jack said confidently. 'They're telepathic, they might have picked up on the low level psychic fields Owen thought the Weevils have. All that extra noise must've spooked it.'

Gwen craned her neck to look up at Jack. 'But that didn't happen last time round.'

Jack ran a finger across his lip thoughtfully. 'Must've been that Weevil that got away last night then. I take it we brought in all three before?'

'Every time except this morning,' Ianto answered. 'So it would make sense if it was just that one…'

Jack marched back into his office, grabbing his coat.

'Ianto stay here and man the comms, see if you can use the CCTV to find that Weevil. Gwen, we're going to check out this scene. The police have it roped off?'

'Yep, and I bet they're expecting us…'

…*…

DAY FOUR

17:01

They were met at the edge of the woods by two uniformed police officers standing guard at either end of a blue-and-white line of police tape. Neither spoke as Jack and Gwen ducked under the tape, having flashed their Torchwood ID.

The gravel crunched under Gwen's feet, pressing down into the dry mud path as she followed just behind Jack who walked as purposefully as ever, always looking like he knew exactly where he was going. The earlier rain had ceased and the sun was out, the air warm and humid, yet Jack still wore his heavy woollen coat. Gwen unzipped her own jacket to let some of the heat out.

'Gwen!'

She looked up in the direction of the voice, saw a lanky uniformed figure headed towards her.

'Andy, hi,' she said with a small smile at her ex-partner as Andy Davidson came to a standstill where she and Jack had stopped.

'Wondered when you lot would be showing up,' Andy continued, looking between the pair. 'It's all a bit suspicious, they're trying to cover it up for the public, but I can tell it was one of them sewer monsters from a couple of months ago, coppers hunch.'

'That's why we're here,' Jack said, crossing his hands behind his back. 'Sewer monsters.'

'What information have you got, Andy?' Gwen asked, trying to keep things professional.

'Like I said, they're trying to cover it up, acting like they think it's some kind of gang violence, cos there's been muggings and fights in these woods before, though no one's ever died before…' he started to walk as he spoke, leading Jack and Gwen up the path. Sunlight dappled through the still branches above them, casting cooling shadows. The river that wound along the side of the path was quite high for the time of year, gurgling against the rounded banks. 'But really they know what it is, you can tell from the witness report and the, uh, the wounds, like bites they are, and these cops aren't stupid, they were on the beat when those monsters came up last, they're just pretending like they're not real.'

'Trying to make things easier,' Gwen said sadly.

'Aye,' Andy agreed. 'I just- I'm not sure it's right, is it? These two kids have died and we're trying to pin it on some sort of masked weirdo with a knife. It's not exactly fair on their parents, or friends.'

Gwen smiled softly at Andy and tucked her arm around his. He was still the same caring guy she had left behind, and she wouldn't want him to change. The corners of his mouth twitched up somewhat as he saw Gwen's smile. The he turned to Jack.

'I figure I can trust you lot to sort it out though?'

'We'll do what we can, Andy,' Jack answered honestly.

They had reached a small hive of activity, deeper in the woods now, though the tops of houses could still be seen beyond the trees on either side. A number of police officers, some in uniform, others in suits, buzzed about busily, keeping the public out of the cordoned off area as they worked to preserve the scene.

Gwen caught sight of two twisted bodies, lying not far from each other amongst the trees. She noticed a ripped rucksack tossed carelessly on the ground, stained and crumpled papers spilling out of a tear in the dark fabric.

Jack left Gwen with Andy as he walked off to find the officer in charge.

'Wh- who were they?' Gwen said quietly.

Andy rubbed a hand wearily over his forehead.

'Dylan Lloyd and Elisabeth Harding, from the local sixth form… The school kids use these woods as a short cut; I guess these two were running a bit later than the others… Only two days before the end of term too.'

Gwen nodded wordlessly, eyes roving over the scene, trying not to stare too much at the shocked look on the girl's- Elisabeth, she reminded herself- face. Andy hesitantly rested a hand on her shoulder.

'Good to see you still care, Gwen,' he murmured, so just she could hear. Gwen could still clearly remember her time when he had accused her of becoming hard and she had realised that that was something she did not want to be. Tosh and Owen's deaths had helped along this realisation, because if she hadn't been able to care about that, what would she have become?

'Sometimes I just have to remind myself…'

Andy squeezed her shoulder understandingly.

'Look, I better go, I do have a job to do here other than just escort you and Mulder around.'

'Yeah… Yeah, you go, Andy, go on.'

She felt his hand drop from her shoulder and he was off. She heard Jack behind her again, so she turned to face him.

'Anything?'

'I spoke to the Sergeant, told him that he could take the bodies and tell the families what he wanted about the deaths, but that we've got the investigation covered… May have been easier if we got here before the cops, but the witness went straight to them.'

'What exactly did the witness say?'

'Nothing new from what you heard on the initial report, just something about a masked man reacting violently to some big ravens and taking it out on the two kids. She said it looked like he was biting them, but the human mind is a funny thing, if we just get some people to drop a few suggestions that maybe he was carrying knife, we've got a decent enough cover story sorted.'

A large black bird landed heavily on a branch overhead. Jack saw and gestured up at it as it turned a violet eye on them warily.

'There's some of the last of the Dwarnbirds then,' he said, eyes fixated on the bird which shuffled up the branch on spidery talons, a violet colour to match its eyes. 'If only they knew the trouble they'd caused today…'

Gwen watched silently as the bird suddenly threw itself into a slightly ungainly flight, using the branch as a push off. A speckled green oak leaf spiralled down in its wake.

'Jack…' she started slowly, making sure she had her boss's attention as he attentively watched the alien bird flap up towards the watery sky. As the Dwarnbird disappeared out of sight, Jack titled his neck to look at her.

'Yeah?'

'If this time loop continues tomorrow, will those two teenagers… Will they be alive again?'

'I can't know for definite, but I suspect so.'

'Good, because the Weevils have really turned today to shit and I'd like to try again.'

Jack grinned at her and began back up the path.

'C'mon, I want to get back to the Hub and see about reattaching the Objects.'

Gwen just caught Andy's attention with a grateful wave of thanks, and followed Jack away from the scene.

…*…

A/N: Thanks for the reviews!


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